Baskets from Africa!

They are back!

When the shop opened 4 years ago I was looking for an interesting product that would add  to the displays around the shop and be something that no one else locally would have in their stores.

The Baba Tree Basket company was based out of Canada then but Gregory, the chief basket guy, found it difficult to be both in Ghana overseeing the production and in Vancouver overseeing the distribution.   He closed the Vancouver warehouse and moved back to Ghana.  It's taken a couple of years to sort things out and now they are back!

In January he started sending emails to everyone that bought baskets, telling us that we could order from him in Ghana and he would send them through Ghana Post.  It was really easy he said, I was skeptical.

In July, after we opened the new space, I took the plunge and another big leap of faith.  I 'wired' a big chunk of money to Gregory in Ghana and waited.  

This is how they looked when the Parcel Guy from Canada Post delivered the bag.  (he said something about it looking like a mail order bride???)

 

There were 28 baskets in this sack.

 All neatly stuffed into each other,

 or flattened by pushing the bottom of the basket into the handle.

 I just had to pry them apart and reshape them.

A soak in warm water for 30 seconds and they go back to the way they were made.

What was the final decision to get the baskets? It was this picture of a 13 year old girl in Ghana who makes baskets for Baba Tree.  She makes small baskets and with the money she earned she was able to purchase a bike!

 As I look at each basket it's nice to know that very few people have handled the basket and that a good chunk of the money goes back to the maker!

Come and see the selection. They are everywhere!

If you can't decide why you need to purchase one maybe this will help!

See You Soon!